


Blocking and Tackling

by Viwiel



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Necessary Roughness
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2013-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-08 22:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/766997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viwiel/pseuds/Viwiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Sunnydale Buffy went and got a physiotherapy degree and used it with the slayers. When Riley (now going by Matt Donnally) calls and asks for help with one of the players in the team he's working with, she reluctantly agrees to travel to New York. When she gets there, she's facing an ex, a temperamental wide receiver, a skeptical fixer and a therapist who's got the hots for her ex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blocking and Tackling

**Author's Note:**

> I got no idea where this is going, but yea, that's the standard for me. I'm not entirely sure what way I'll end twisting that Riley/Matt thing, but that's not really that relevant, so go ahead and ignore it for now. I was asked why Buffy would go to help if she wasn't doing it for Riley/Matt. I think having both been shot and acted self-destructively would make her want to try to help. Also, it's part of her nature, I think.

**  
*****

**Blocking and Tackling**

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_"Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling."_  
– Vincent T. Lombardi

 

“Matt, you are seriously going to owe me for this." Buffy told the man who casually leaning to a desk in front of her. She frowned and after a moment's thought she added, "More than from Belize," with a tone that told him not to even try to mess with her.

“More than from Belize?" Matt parroted incredulously. "I know TK's kind of... _larger than life_?” She snorted derisively at Matt’s attempt to describe the man who was known as the New York Hawks' star wide receiver, which he ignored. “Anyway, there's no way he's worse than that situation in Belize,” Matt disagreed.

“Oh, yes," Buffy crossed her arms, "he's _way_ worse than that. It's like dealing with a 6’3” teenager on sugar rush, and-“

A dark-haired man opened the door to Matt’s office, cutting short what would have been a colorful dissertation of the wide receiver's character. The man stepping in the office had obviously heard the beginning of it, because the first thing he said was, “TK?”

Buffy gave Matt one last dirty look, and nodded a very emphatic yes to the stranger's question, her expression conveying loud and clear what she thought about the wide receiver and his attitude.

“Unfortunately, yes, we were talking about TK,” Matt’s admitted.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you two in the middle of that riveting topic, then," Buffy detected some covered amusement from the stranger when he said that, "but there’s a situation that requires your presence, Donnally,” he told Matt.

“Alright,” Matt agreed with a nod. "But before I go; Buffy, meet Nico Careles. He takes care of– _situations_ around here.” From Matt's emphasizing Buffy got the impression that Nico was the go-to guy when you needed something taken care of – fast and quietly.

“Nico,” Matt continued and gestured to her, “This is Buffy Summers. She's an old friend and she's agreed to help with TK. She has experience of dealing with teenagers with big attitudes so she should be able to handle him just fine,” Matt flashed that boyish grin that had once upon a time made Buffy go all tingly inside. Right now it was just annoying the hell out of her. "She's also got a degree in physiotherapy," he added as an afterthought.

Nico quirked an eyebrow and from his expression Buffy could read he was skeptical about her being able to make some difference when it came to TK – she didn't take offense to that. She was skeptical as well, seeing that based on her first impression of Terrence King she'd rate him up there with Kennedy on the scale of bratty and entitled, and everybody knew how well the two of them got along.

“It a pleasure to meet you, Nico. If you're the one doing the clean up after TK, I feel for you. I was just telling Matt how bad he’s going to owe me for making me deal with him.”

“Pleasure's all mine,” Nico replied. “And TK's a headache of his own brand, that's for sure.”

Buffy hummed in agreement, a slight smile curling the corners of her mouth. Truth to be told, while TK was a train wreck and stubbornly refusing everyone's attempts to help, she still wanted to try to get through to him – after all, she wouldn't be here if she didn't. Despite of their history, Matt had no pull on her, and she could have just as well refused to come when he'd called and asked for her help. TK was a screw-up – true enough, but out of the people she knew, who wasn't?


End file.
